Scars, Made in the Dusk
by QuicklyKwadley
Summary: A Duskshipping one-shot. The brutality of this pairing, contrasted with how it ended. Brutality from Karst was her form of tenderness.


Her silhouette was illuminated by the fire. She was stoking the flames, but Felix was hoping that she would return to the fur blanket they had been wrapped up in. Karst's body kept him warmer than the fire anyway. As she stepped back towards him, he reached out a hand, wincing in pain.

"I told you to keep still. Your shoulder will just start bleeding again."

Felix put his hand to his right shoulder and felt fresh blood, but only a little. "Maybe you shouldn't bite so hard."

Karst snickered. "Maybe you should use psynergy to heal yourself instead of letting yourself scab over."

Felix had often thought about this, but declined every time. "Hey, it toughens me up. And you're always reminding me of how weak I am."

"Maybe I don't want you to get stronger Felix. Maybe I want to keep pushing you around."

The truth was that Felix let her. In sparring he was no match for her, but his actions over the past month seemed to revolve around what Karst wanted. It had been one month since their first night together. Neither could explain why they had been sleeping together for a month, nor were they sure why it had started. But if she was going to mock him, then so be it. If she was going to sneak around at night to sleep with him, then so be it. If she was going to bite his shoulder when aroused, Felix wouldn't argue. He was beginning to enjoy it. Other scrapes and cuts from her scales would make their marks too, and the occasional spike puncture…but Felix refused to let these marks go away. Psynergy would heal the wounds and prevent a scar from forming, but Felix intended to wear these scars proudly. They were almost like trophies to him.

"Hey, when do you leave?" Karst drowsily asked as she curled up with him again.

"Four days or so. That water adept showed up a week ago and talked with Saturos for a while. I don't even know his name, but apparently he's joining us too." Felix looked down at Karst. "So maybe we have some time."

"No…this is it. Once you leave, we're done." All of the bites and cuts she had given him over the last month of lovemaking didn't sting as much as how casually Karst had told him this. Meeting eyes with Felix, Karst saw he was at a loss. "We both knew this was an unusual arrangement," she explained, "And while this has been fun, it can't go any further."

"Do you really mean that everything during the last…" Felix couldn't finish his sentence. He felt betrayed. "Who found out?" That had to be it. Why else would she do this? Someone had to have found out, and voiced their disapproval. Or worse, threatened to make their affair public.

"Well…" Karst began, hesitating. "Saturos has known the whole time. He kept wondering why you looked so pale. You actually seemed to be getting weaker, and your clothes were always bloody. My sister could tell something was going on. I guess they realized how you got your wounds…so really it's your own fault for not healing them."

"Don't change the subject." Felix snapped. "They told you to break it off with me, right?"

Coyly, Karst explained. "They didn't exactly approve. But no, I'm deciding."

"Tell me why."

"No."

"You owe me a reason." Felix was trying not to shout.

"You don't belong here Felix, and I don't want you coming back to Prox other than to get your family to take them back to your village."

"I don't understand-" Felix began before Karst cut him off.

"And I don't want you to. This is my choice, and my own reasons are private."

Shaking his head, all Felix could say was, "I guess I never will figure you out then." Karst just shook her head. He was amazed at how strong she was. Independent beyond anyone he had ever met. Even Saturos relied on Menardi for major decisions. "Well then could you just give me a reason? Even if it's not real, I just want a reason."

Karst leaned over Felix, lightly breathing on him. She knew how much power she had over him. "All right" she said as she thought up a lie. "When you go on your adventure, I have a feeling that you'll all get stronger and stronger, and by the time you return to Prox, I won't be able to push you around anymore. But Felix, we're so good together when I'm pushing you around, and hurting you, and all you can do is kiss me back. I don't want to be the weaker between us."

"Ha! You know that even if I get stronger, that I'll never surpass you."

Karst had a glimmer in her eyes, and kept playing along. "Is that so? Well then, maybe if you're still as weak as ever by the time you come back, we can pick up where we left off."

"And where exactly would that be?" Felix inquired.

With that, Karst put her teeth back into Felix's shoulder. The two of them were making love again, if you could call it that. It was brutal more than anything, and like so many of their intimate moments it came at the end of a fight. But as Karst's scales cut into Felix again, he still felt that this was tenderness. He could wrap this girl up in his arms and carry her, she was so small compared to his tall build. As she tugged on his ponytail, Felix leaned in to draw her skin into his mouth, and to touch her chest, stroking in the way he knew she liked. Never one for subtlety, Karst began writhing around in pleasure as Felix thrusted, swinging a punch at the height of her orgasm. This was their last night together, and Karst wanted it to go her way. Every night was painful for Felix physically, but for Karst, to only find intimacy with an outsider was even more damaging. No matter how much she liked her time with Felix, and despite the ecstasy they felt together, this was wrong for a Proxian.

When they finished, they collapsed. They were exhausted, sweating, and in the case of Felix, bleeding again. "Hey!" he whispered to Karst. "Remember. The next time we see each other, I'll still be weak enough to make this fun for you."

Karst could barely gather her clothes and get out of the room fast enough to keep herself from shedding tears in front of him. Felix never would figure her out. No one would. The day that Felix departed with Saturos and his group, Karst felt alone again.

"I am so sorry." Felix whispered into her ear. "I never meant to get stronger." As he picked up her body from the floor of Mars lighthouse, he noticed that her hand was placed over her shoulder. The wave of light that had reawakened his parents was too late. Karst and Agatio had died before the lighthouse could be fired. Fighting back tears, Felix realized that he could not sit with her body much longer. He would need to carry Karst back to Prox for a funeral. Now he was alone too. His scars were all he had left of her.


End file.
